Contact:
Jessica Beverly, Jessica.Beverly@SierraClub.org
SPRINGFIELD, IL -- Today, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced the IEPA would begin to revise the Volkswagen Settlement Funding Plan and offer a $9 million grant opportunity for electric school buses. The VW plan proposals will focus entirely on electric transportation options including public transit buses, public passenger/commuter locomotives, all-electric school buses, and electric charging infrastructure. The $9 million grants will focus on school buses in the Chicago metropolitan area and Metro-East.
In response, Sierra Club Illinois Clean Energy Advocate Jessica Beverly released the following statement:
“We applaud Governor Pritzker’s commitment to a new plan to accelerate Illinois’ move to clean transportation by focusing Volkswagen settlement dollars entirely on electric vehicles. Gas and diesel emissions from cars and trucks are the largest source of climate pollution in Illinois, and an acute health threat in too many communities across Illinois. It is essential to utilize technology and infrastructure to support zero-emisison vehicles as we continue to address the ongoing climate crisis. Governor Pritzker’s goal of one million electric vehicles on the road by 2030 is bold but achievable with investments like those announced today, and policies that ensure that all Illinois drivers and communities can access the clean vehicles of the future - particularly in environmental justice communities that suffer the most from gas and diesel exhaust.
Illinois can be a leader in the electric vehicle economy, and today’s announcement of the Electric Vehicle-Energy Storage Manufacturing Training Academy in Normal and the Advanced Manufacturing Center in Belleville are exciting steps in that direction. This is an excellent start to get Illinois, the Midwest’s largest transportation hub, on the path to cleaner air and healthier communities as we contemplate economic recovery from COVID-19. We must continue to work together to take advantage of all opportunities to expand access to electric transportation throughout the State while ensuring those communities most burdened by pollution are first to see the benefits of electric transportation.”